When German troops blockade Leningrad, hunger and death penetrate even into the world of myths and ancient legends, into a world that has always considered itself far from history. A world where buildings grow from flesh, fountains of blood gush out in the Kingdom of Life, birds turn into beautiful young men, and a committee of brownies rules the space. A world where there is a war between Koshchei the Immortal, the King of Life, and his brother, the King of Death, in which the main role is assigned to Koshchei’s bride, Marya Morevna, by fate itself. Only Marya does not yet know that fear and hunger cannot be hidden even in a fairy tale, that “not the calendar, but the Real Twentieth Century” is approaching, and reality will be more terrible than any eternal struggle.